Page-holder for books and the like.



V. WA'RING. PAGE HOLDER Foa Booxs AND THB LIKE.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 24, 1913.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

TIG-.1.

coLuMllA PLANOGRAPH CO..wASmNGroN. n.1?.

VECHTEN WARINGr, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PAGE-HOLDER FOR BOOKS AND THEVLIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

Application filed February 24, 1913. Serial No. 750,146.

To all fro/wm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VEoHTEN WARING, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Page- Holders for Books and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for clamping the page of a book or any sheet which contains printed or other reading matter in temporary curved position in order to lessen eye-strain during the operation of reading. To this end I provide a holder or clamp which will give to the page a curvature such that all points in a horizontal line will be substantially equidistant from the eyes. In reading' a page which is fiat, that is, one in which all points of the surface lie in the same plane, the eyes are constantly required to change their focus, and consequently mus cular effort is expended in causing the lens of each eye to alter its curvature correspondingly. This fact arises since, as the eye sweeps across the page, the distance from the page to the eye constantly changes. r1`his I aim to overcome by giving the page a suitable curvature while it is being read.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specifica-tion, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a book to which my improved page holder or clamp has been attached; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through one form of holder; Fig. 3 is a top view of the holder showing a. portion of a page held therein; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modification; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the clamping means used in the structure of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a view of a further modification in which the curving means is incorporated in the book itself.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the numeral 1 designates a book having the cover 2 and pages 3. One of the pages, 4, is shown in Fig. 1 to be provided with a holder or clamp comprising a pair of curved fingers 5 and 6, hinged at 7 and having the handle portions 8 and 9, respectively. A spring 10 constantly urges the handles apart and therefore acts to press the fingers together.

The device may be made of any suitable material, such as sheet metal or celluloid. When the holder is applied to a page, as shown in Fig. 1, the eect will be to curve 'the page in conformity with the curvature of the fingers. It will be observed that the holder serves a manifold duty in acting as a book mark and line guide in addition to its primary purpose.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a modification particularly adapted for use with sheets which are printed on only one side, such as certain classes of sheet-music. This modification comprises a structure having a rod 11 adjustably mounted in a clamp 12 which is pivoted at 13 to a fixed rod 14 forming a part of any suitable support. A clamping nut 15 mounted on a bolt 16 projecting through the slot 17 affords means for clamping the rod 11 in any desired angular position. Mounted upon the rod 11 is a plurality of sheet holders, one for each sheet. Each of these holders comprises a U- shaped member 18 carrying at its extremity the hollow bosses 19 and 2O in which the rod 11 is journaled, so that the U-shaped me1nber is free to oscillate on the rod. Curved transverse members 21 and 22 connect the main section of the rod 18 to a second parallel rod 23. A second pair of curved transverse strips 24 and 25, homologously arranged with respect to the transverse members 21 and 22 are normally forced against their respective stationary strips by spring pressure. The movable strips 24 and 25 carry at their respective extremities arms 26 and 27 which are pivoted to members 18 and 23 at 28, 29. Contractile springs 30 attached to pins 31 and 32 urge the respective transverse members together, and these two bars then perform the same function as the pairs of curved fingers in the device first described. When a sheet of music or other matter is inserted between the bars the page will be given the proper curvature, as shown in Fig. 4, and the page may then be turned by using as a handle one leg of the U-shaped member 18.

In Fig. 6 I have shown an adaptation of my invention to a book whose covers incorporate its principle. The book is provided at 33 with covers 34 which are permanently curved, so that the pages 35 may be forced against the cover, either manually or by the use of a clamp such as -I have already described, and thus caused to assume the proper curvature. It will be obvious that such a cover may be separable from the book, so as to be useful in connection with magazines and the like having light and flexible covers, or may be bound integral with the body of the book,

Thile I have illustrated and described only tivo embodiments of my invention, I realize that it is susceptible of Wide adaptation, and I do not desire to be limited to the precise construction shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In page holder for books and the like, a pair of members having homologous surfaces curved to substantially the same radius, pivotal connect-ion betiveen said members, and means for forcing them together. Y

2, In a page holder for books and the like, a pair of members having homologous surfaces curved to substantially the same radius, pivotalv connection between said members, and yieldable means for forcing them together.

3. In a page holder for books and the like, a supporting member, a frame rotatably mounted' thereon, a pair of members having surfaces curved to substantially the same radius mounted on said frame, and means for urging said surfaces together.

4. In a page holder for books and the like, ay supporting member, a frame rotatably mounted thereon, a pair of members having surfaces curved to substantially the same radiusmounted on said frame, and yieldable means for urging said surfaces together.

5. vInl a page holder for books and the like,

la supporting member, a frame rotatably mounted thereon, a pair of members having surfaces curvedto substantially the same vradius mounted on said frame, yieldable .means for urging said members together,

and a second pair of members oppositely dis- 40 posed with reference to the first named pair, and similar thereto, mounted on said frame.

6. In apage-holder for books and the like, a supporting member and a plurality of frames rotatably mounted thereon, each of said fra-mes being capable of limited independent rotation Witlirespect to the others, and each of said frames being provided with a pair of members having surfaces curved to substantially the same rad-ius, means for urging said members together, and a second pairV of members oppositely disposed with reference to the first named pair and similar thereto, and means for urging said second pair of members together.

VECHTEN VARING.

Witnesses SEWARD Davis, @Livra IVILLIAMS.

copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D'. C. 

